Friday, January 23, 2015

While large gifts from wealthy
individuals and foundations receive the bulk of the attention, UNC Charlotte is
fortunate to have sustaining support from thousands of small donors.

The 1946 Society recognizes such
donors who contribute consistently, and it highlights their importance to the
University’s success. There are currently 178 members of the 1946 Society’s Gold
Circle, which means those individuals have given consistently for at least 15
years. To date, their collective gifts have totaled more than $31 million. Gold
Circle member Rebecca Whitener (’74) has been a benefactor of UNC Charlotte for
decades. She explains how and why she started giving and what motivates her
continued generosity.

Q: There are so many charities
and worthwhile causes, how did you settle on supporting higher education?

Rebecca Whitener

A: I believe lifelong community education should be provided
so individuals can learn skills and obtain the knowledge and education necessary
to carry out a lifetime of productive work. But it’s more than that to me. If a
graduate decides to never use the actual degree, they’re walking away with a
tremendous advantage of having learned how to learn.

I think John F. Kennedy summed up the value of education
best when he said, “Our progress as a nation can be no swifter than our
progress in education. The human mind is our fundamental resource.” Or, as
someone very wise once said, “If you think education is so expensive, try
ignorance.”

Q: You probably get asked this quite a bit, but what’s in it
for you to continually contribute to UNC Charlotte?

A: I don’t give for what I get in return but for what I have
already received. UNC Charlotte has been an important part of my life for as
long as I can remember. I, along with three of my six siblings, received my education
here. I earned three degrees and spent 23 years on the staff, where I had the
privilege of personally knowing Miss Bonnie Cone and chancellors Colvard,
Fretwell, Woodward and Dubois.

My years as a student and then as an employee provided me
with the foundation and the relevant work experience necessary to pursue my
goals outside these safe walls and move into a career I had dreamed of.
Donating is an opportunity to give back and pay it forward for the future of
higher education at this place.

I give to UNC Charlotte because I trust the leadership, am
grateful for what this University has meant to me and my family, and because I
am inspired by those who came before me who made it possible for me.

Q: Being a member of the 1946 Society’s Gold Circle requires
15 years of continuous giving. However, it’s clear you’ve been supporting the
University for much longer than that. When and how did you get started?

A: The Development Office doesn’t have reliable records
going back this far, but I believe I’ve been giving for close to 40 years. I
started just after I completed my first degree in 1974 and went to work here
that fall as occupational safety and health director.

I was young and didn’t have a lot of money, but I did what I
could because this was a young and growing university with a lot of needs and
not a lot of alumni.

Q: Two of your children and their spouses are graduates of
UNC Charlotte. Have you convinced them to follow in your footsteps in terms of
supporting the University?

A: They are all very charitable and know of my support at
UNC Charlotte. I hope to pass that on to them and hope that they will give more
as they get older and have more dollars available for charitable causes.

Q: These days, young people tend to leave school with so
much debt and may not find well-paying jobs. How do you persuade someone in such
circumstances to be philanthropic, particularly to a university?

A: As with any giving, the first thing they need to consider
is what they really believe in. If they are wondering how to find dollars for
their causes, they should start out with a budgeting process and stick with it.
You make that commitment and pay it like a bill. Do whatever fits your budget.
Whether it’s monthly, quarterly or a one-time annual gift, all gifts are good.

Melba Newsome is a
Charlotte-based writer and frequent contributor to the magazine.

Thursday, January 22, 2015

Will
Leach had no compelling need to move on from his job as principal at Butler
High School, where during his tenure significant progress was made in student
performance and other key academic measures.

That
is, until an entirely new position opened up on the campus of UNC Charlotte,
where Leach had earned his master’s degree in school administration in 2000.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools was advertising for the job of principal of a new
early college high school on the UNC Charlotte campus, with plans to open
in fall 2014. Operating as a district-wide “magnet” school, the new facility
would focus on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education, with
an emphasis on energy.

Alumnus Will Leach, principal of on-campus high school

“When
I found out about the new job, the first thing I did was do some research on
the early college concept. I decided to apply for it because it meant being on
the cutting edge of public education,” Leach said during an interview in his
office in the school. “It also meant coming back to UNC Charlotte.”

The
first of its kind for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, the Charlotte Engineering
Early College began classes on Aug. 25, 2014, with an inaugural class of 100
ninth-graders from across Mecklenburg County. The students will spend three
years on high school courses followed by two more years of college course work
at no charge. Program leaders envision the school as a blueprint for the
future of STEM education in the region, state and perhaps the nation.

For
Leach, it was an entirely new challenge.

“I
went from being a manager of a large staff of faculty to becoming someone who
has the chance to know a lot about each student,” he said. “I know every
student by name, and my staff and I have a good handle on their progress and
their needs.”

To
be ready to open for the 2014 academic year, Leach worked closely with Michele
Howard, former dean of students at UNC Charlotte and the director of the Early
College Program. They were directly involved in the selection of the faculty
and staff. Leach also got to know the parents of his students, mingling with
them at several orientation sessions prior to the opening.

“It’s
been a lot of work, but it’s been good work,” he said. “We have a lot of
control over how we plan our curriculum and how we implement it. To be candid,
we are still defining just what success is in this kind of learning
environment. I’ve been preaching that to my staff from the beginning, and more
than once I have asked them, ‘Are you comfortable with the fact that you are
building this ship while it is still flying?’”

While
there have been challenges in the first few months of the new high school,
Leach remains unflappable and poised. He gives a lot of credit to his
professors at UNC Charlotte, who prepared him for his career.

Leach at the helm of Engineering Early College High School

“When
I was getting my master’s, I participated in a principal fellows program that
gave me a lot of theoretical and practical training,” he said. “I also spent a
year in an internship position, working in a public school. From there, I went
on to become assistant principal at Carmel Middle School. My first job as
principal was at Alexander Graham Middle, followed by four years as the
principal at Butler.”

And
he’s open-minded enough to know he is still being schooled.

“I
have the opportunity to see a very different side of education,” he said. “It’s
been a real eye opener from my vantage point to see what I need to do to
collaborate. How do I give feedback, and how do I get feedback? It takes a lot
of interpersonal skills, and this is something we want to include in the
curriculum. In 10 or 15 years, we hope many of them (the students) are
successful engineers. But they will need to know how to interact with each
other in the real world.”

As
for returning to UNC Charlotte, Leach said he is constantly amazed to see all
the changes on campus since he was a graduate student.

“I
feel a lot more school spirit than I did when I was here in the late 1990s,” he
said. “I don’t know if it’s only because of the new football team, but I see a
lot of improvement. I’m not sure the average Charlotte resident knows what a
quality institution they have in this University.”

Paul Nowell is
media relations manager in the Office of Public Relations.

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Marc Morial, the
national Urban League president, said that urban public universities such as UNC
Charlotte should take positions of thought leadership on issues of civil rights
and economic mobility. He said those institutions should be active in
researching, convening and sustaining fruitful action to advance the greater
good within their communities.

Morial brought a
message focusing largely on economic mobility when he spoke on Jan. 20 to more
than 300 people at McKnight Auditorium. His visit was sponsored by the University's Multicultural Resource Center. His official topic centered on “Building
Bridges through Civility, Justice and Action.”

Marc Morial at UNC Charlotte

Morial’s appearance
helped close out MLK Day activities at UNC Charlotte. He said that the Urban League is unique in
that it both advocates for civil rights and also provides direct services to
organizations and individuals. Morial has led the Urban League since 2003 and
had formerly served as mayor of New Orleans and as a Louisiana state senator.
In a meeting with a smaller group of local and regional civil rights advocates
and elected officials, Morial said that a key goal for the Urban League is to
help advance economic mobility for all Americans, especially those who are
minorities.

Morial rebutted
suggestions he said he had heard in 2003 that equality and civil rights have
been achieved in the United States and thus organizations such as the Urban
League are less relevant than in decades past. He noted that 2010-2012 were the
Urban League’s biggest years for providing services and that in 2010 the
organization refreshed its operational goals for the foreseeable future. He
said the Urban Leagues priorities are 1) every child ready for college, work
and life; 2) safe, decent, energy efficient housing on fair terms available to
all citizens; 3) every American having access to a good job paying a living
wage with benefits and 4) access to affordable healthcare solutions. Morial
said that with goals as fundamental -- yet far-reaching -- as those, the Urban League
is as relevant as ever.

When asked what
indicators he has seen that suggest those goals are achievable, he had a quick
two-word answer: “Hope and goodwill.”

As part of Morial’s
address to the crowd in McKnight, Chancellor Philip L. Dubois shared brief
remarks with the assemblage.

“
… The events of the past year in Ferguson and elsewhere remind us that there
remain deep divides along racial lines in this country,” Dubois said. “As the
old saying goes, freedom is not free and it requires continuing vigilance. We
need that next generation of civil rights leaders to emerge and speak for the
conscience of this nation, as great leaders have. I’m sure that many of these
future leaders are sitting in this room.”

Urban League of Central Carolina CEO Patrick Graham

Indeed,
Morial said that Urban League leadership is keeping up with the ascendancy of millennials,
who, he said, were now the largest segment of the American population. Morial
said he was proud that Urban League chapters across the country were
experiencing generational changings of the guard in their leadership, with scores
of young, talented chief executives taking the helm; he noted in particular
Patrick Graham, Ph.D., president and CEO of the Urban League of Central Carolina.

###

John Bland is senior director of public relations and news services at UNC Charlotte.

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